Could this be me?

I always wondered if the safety-net of the postgrad life I remembered at Wits was part of the reason I came back to do my PhD. Now I see the symptoms in this recent Piled Higher & Deeper strip.



Some context: The good doctor has told Cecilia that she's allergic to her thesis and also to reality outside of her research manifest after seeing fellow students graduate. Use the 'previous' button on this link to see the 4 previous strips if you need more context. I ♥ PHD Comics :)

So if this thread is to be believed, when will I show symptoms of allergy to my work? Does avoidance of deadlines count?

Time travel

I love getting mail. More specifically I love getting snail mail: the kind that goes travels through that good (or not so) old network of post-offices and mailing centres and then lands in my mail box. There's something nostalgic about receiving 'post'.

In my post-box today was a postcard written by me, last November, when I was on a post-graduate workshop at Warwick University. It was one of our last tasks of the workshop; to write down some outcomes that we had planned to achieve within 3 months.

What was on the card is, for this audience, not relevant. What is significant is how I responded: an almost surreal feeling - it was my handwriting on the envelope (yes it came in an envelope) and on the card, but bizarrely it didn't feel like I had written those questions. And their relevance now was astounding, even just considering what I thought, back then, would be important now.

This little time-travel experience brought a smile to my face and giggle in my voice as I read the postcard. I recommend this experience as a reminder of what you've achieved by a certain time in the future. Write 3 questions to you-in-the-future, from you-as-you-are-now; seal it in a self-addressed stamped envelope and ask a friend to mail at a predetermined time in the future. A few months is enough. Then just wait for the future to happen, you needn't remember anything, except to check your post-box. I suspect it'll be a worthwhile experience for you too.

Boycotting the commercialism of V-day

Yes yes. Maybe I would be more into this Hallmark holiday if I had a SO. For the most part I think that couples should make a tiny little fuss over their partner every day and not just on one designated by the calendar. The level of commercial depravity that V-day has become, leaves me feeling rather sad. If I was in a couple, how would I know that he would make the effort because he feels obliged by society and all the retail efforts or for more sincere motives. Well the truth is I don't have to double guess.

Most V-day's are for me a bit like Charlie Brown's:


(Source)

V-day rant over.

[Edit] Better late than never, today's Over the Hedge comic did make me go "Oh cute".

Close to my heart

Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers taking action through their blogs, and this year the issue of global importance is climate change. An issue close to my sensibilities.

Climate change has become a lot more press-worthy than when I was in undergrad and was first introduced to me by then Dr Coleen Vogel. How fitting it is then, that last night I went to her Inaugural Lecture, now that she's a full professor at Wits and was inspired by a glimpse into her research into how people deal climate variability and her role in the IPCC as a broker between African scientists and government policy makers.

Coleen, an inspiring speaker, reminded her audience about the projected climate changes at a global scale, and a continental scale - what's in store for Africa - and then at a regional scale and what we can expect here on the sub-continent of Africa. Some scary stuff if you let it get to you. Some days it gets to me - especially when I consider not just the change in climate alone but all the knock-on effects that are, in some places on the planet, already evident. This is the stuff that I'm interested in finding out more about. About how our planet works and how humans are a part of that system. Leonie Joubert's book Scorched is a wonderful work explaining both the science of climate change and the impacts that are projected for southern Africa.

The press now is filled with ideas that when each person making more ethical choices about the food they eat and the products they use we can all make a difference to the emissions that started all of this in the first place. And there are many organisations that are mobilising individuals and families to make changes. Check out 350.org and Earth Hour's "Vote Earth" campaigns and get involved. These movements are needed to make the policy makers take note that communities care and are willing to make a difference and help. Find a great book, printed on sustainable paper, filled with tips of how to make little changes daily that will have global ripples. I was inspired by the ideas in Simon Gear's book:
Going Green: 365 Ways to Change Our World: 365 Ways to change our world because it's relevant to all South Africans, presented in a practical hopeful and amusing style.



This issue is close to my heart. Thanks Blog Action Day for an reason to make it public.

I found myself daydreaming...

Maybe it's the extra time I have on my hands now that my crazy teaching load has lifted. Maybe it's the thought of a few days out of the city. Maybe it's just spring time and thus time to contemplate the meaning of life love phds and the universe.

Same day-dream. Different day. And always about driving the same spot of highway out of Joburg. Wishful thinking?

Percussion rocks!

The show is not over... well not for another 2 weeks, but last night's (Wednesday 27th May) display of technical mastery should be blogged about while I remember.

My Mom and I were graciously gifted season tickets to the 2009 Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra Second Symphony Season. I've always had an affinity for classical music and went through a stage of listening to nothing else. Then I went through a "it isn't cool for someone your age" phase and now I'm back to loving it and I remain unaffected by what people may think or say to that fact. Part of loving the experience of the weekly concerts is the visualisation of a style of communicating that is traditionally auditory. There is so much to see, hear, feel - real food for the senses.

Last night's theme was works from Russian composers.
BORODIN: Prince Igor: Overture
PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto, no.3, op.26, C major with the soloist being Ayano Shimada who was trained in Japan and France with many laurels of competition wins and solo appearances around the world.
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade, op.35
Conductor: Emil Tabakov

While the music was not really my taste, the performance was one of technical mastery from both soloist and the orchestra as a whole. The soloist appeared in a passion purple gown contrasting violently against the black and white formality of the orchestra members. And then with little adieu clicked and whirred in harmony with the brass and strings and percussion and woodwinds to create a cohesive flowing story. Her dexterous and impassioned skill was awe inspiring with hands blurring confidently over the keys. In her encore, of course we wanted an encore, her movements were lithe and flowing and purposeful and sensual, gently stroking the ivories into life in a distinct contrast of theme and style to the concerto.

The orchestra carried this momentum forward after interval into the Scheherazade - an emotive fantasy in 4 parts with literary inspiration from Tales of the Arabian Nights. In the first movement, the sea-sawing of the cellos to imitate "The Sea and Sinbad's ship" was even more evident with unfocussed (soft) eyes where the musicians deftly bowing the strings in contradictory to-&-fro motions, matching the pushing and pulling of the waves on the high seas. The theme of the Sultana sensual and exotic and fragrant and colourful [1] expertly portrayed by the first violinist and orchestra leader. The first cello, oboe, bassoon, clarinet and flute making regular expressive contributions to the symphonic work, with the harp contributing a sense of mystery and fantasy. And then in the forth movement the Festival of Baghdad, the sea and the shipwreck where all the emotions of the story unfurl in regimented tympanic glory!

I left there feeling the music. Not just seeing or hearing it this week - a wonderful sensory experience. I think I'll do it again sometime.

For the record Mom admits to being in a "Russian phase" and said that this week's concert was her best. And she wants to come back in her next life as a tympanist.

[1] Rimsky-Korsakov is reported to have been a synesthate where tonal keys had colour. Here is a comparative table between his perception of colour and key and that of another Russian composer Alexander Scriabin (Harrison, 2001:123). And here is an article about synesthesia.

It was a flippant throw away Friday tweet. And then it wasn't. I started thinking about how I am really blessed to think that everything is can be right with the world with just a cup of chai and a ginger biscuit. The feeling only lasted til the end of the ginger biscuit.

There are so many 'things' not right in the world: poverty, right in my home town; war and unrest, seemingly far from home but it's here and even more scary for me if it's underground; and the changing face of our planet ... well all these things make my heart sore. Making a difference where I can change that to soar.

In my perception of the world, as I saw it on Friday last week for a brief moment, it was all right in that world. Until I realised my world is part of the collective whole.

Kinda serious for a Terri-fic Tuesday. Reminds me to count my blessings everyday.

I *gasp* can't *gasp* stop

I've been working through another book by Cecile Badenhorst in order to get to my publications for my PhD write up (describing the process of writing an article for publication). One of the golden rules in her book is: Writing begets writing. I had a very real experience of this yesterday. I'm retyping here what I wrote in my writing journal[1].

19 May, 09:30
" All the thoughts running through my head now want their own 15 mins of fame and be idolised on paper. They need to get out! Release is what they crave! How do I sort? Filter? Settle my mind to focus on ideas that right now mean progress towards a goal? Can we get to channelling creative thoughts soon please, Cecile?

I love this state! I need to use fine sandpaper or something to refine it into avenues that are a little more distinct.

There's an underlying caution that I'll write down stuff buried so far beneath the layers of sedimentary knowledge and emotions and feelings and thoughts. We could have a volcanic-like eruption of words that could have serious repercussions. Is this an early warning system to save the inhabitants? Does it matter? Bury the emotions or live with them and work with them. Colonise the lava fields. Rich volcanic rock makes for fertile ground for further life, words, emotions and thoughts.

Carry on writing."

On the next page in the book: "How and what you write is a choice" (Badenhorst, 2007:9). I chose to write this one in more than just my note book. More insight to follow. Really loving writing and looking forward to directing it in more purposeful ways.

[1] Yes she advocates writing, not typing, for many reasons and advises that all writing should be on coloured paper, in felt-tip coloured pen and only ever in the landscape position - no lines allowed!

Boys, bikini's & global warming

(from BC Comic of the Day today)

What relief!

The whole idea of this blog was to provide experience for writing up my PhD results. I had a crisis of intellectual property faith early on and realised that this may not be a useful or ethical purpose. My intention for this exercise then became one of keeping the 3 readers out there up to date with my progress and as a way of practising my writing skills hoping that this would spill over into writing up my PhD.

Officially, today is the first day of my write up. It's very early days yet. This week's focus means that I'll spending time thinking about my major findings so far, how they can be moulded into publishable papers and how to represent the data so that they tell the story appropriately. And then I get on to actually writing the stories.

I can 'see' two papers so far. There's still some work to be done and data to be untangled and models to buid and test. In spite of this, I feel good that I'm getting somewhere now. Really proud of myself today. Yay! I'm sure this feeling will pass soon enough but it's worth remembering now and for when frustration and confusion bear down their weight.

This is like my Comrades marathon. Right now I've been on the road about 7 hours and only 4 to go.

Have I passed the Sustainable assessment test?

While working on my assignment for a certificate as Higher Education Assessor and Moderator, I've been pondering how to measure, I mean, assess my own efficacy. So I came up with an equation: insight gained + output product = f(time on task). Yes how nerdy of me - who else would consider describing their experiences by means of a mathematical relationship.

My pondering came from the fact that I've been working on this assignment and my insight gained has showed substantial increase and resulted in some implementation success. However the output product lags behind. So I'm now rethinking my equation - I think that there's an exponent or variable missing.

Maybe that variable is procrastination. It's been my honest opinion that procrastination as a life-skill is an emergent learning outcome of post-graduate study. Meaning that it's not planned on and sometimes has no intrinsic value - it serves only to delay submission. This blog serves as case in point: instead of working on the assignment I'm contemplating the impact of the insight gained on life outside of teaching. Does that mean I've learnt the art of sustainable assessment for life-long learning? Did I pass the test? Have I met the learning outcomes?

Make no mistake, this post will be in my assignment. Then it's not procrastination. Back to the chalk-board for equation derivation...

Environmental awareness

How environmentally aware are you? Do you have a memory of who it was that first enlightened you about how humans affect their environments and not always in a sustainable way?

I am of course talking here from the perspective of our physical environments. Those which are the providers of our physical nourishment. In the shadow of the Live Earth concerts,I've been considering how I grew in awareness of human exploitation of natural resources. At a great girls out dinner in Chinatown recently, two friends were discussing their anticipation and expectations of the Live Earth concert the following evening. Ever the eco-bunny I considered going along for the 'cause' but declined on the grounds that I'm not all that into crowds and concerts.

It was at this evening that I recalled the theme tune to The Wombles - "...making good use of the things that we find, things that the everyday folks leave behind". We laughed about the fact that I actually have this theme song on my iPod and it crops up quite regularly in the song shuffle.

Seriously though, even though I only remembered one of the characters names from childhood memories of the show, I now believe that these guys are an icon of environmental awareness for me. Should I be surprised? I am a child of the 70s after all.

Thanks to The Wombles, I'll carry on recycling my household waste as I have done for many years, "even bottles and tins". It feels like I'm doing something small to "answer the call" as Live Earth are imploring us to do. Also thanks to The Wombles, one day, when I own a golden spaniel, I already have his name worked out - Orinoco!